URBANIZATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN 3.1 Introduction: Today, half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050, 70 percent of the population will be urban. India has been witnessing massive urbanization. Over the six decades since independence, India’s population grew three-fold from 350 million in 1947 to 1027 million in the year in 2001. During the same period, the urban population grew almost 4.6 fold as fast – from 62.4 million to 286 million (Census 2001). Thus, the Independent India has been urbanising very fast. The process of urbanization has been closely linked with pattern of economic development in the country. Although the process of urbanization in India could not be explained fully by the process of economic development, it is positively linked with the latter. 1 Thus, the rapid increase in urbanization and economic development has led to severe environmental degradation that undermines the environmental resource base upon which sustainable development depends. The economics of environmental pollution, depletion and degradation of resources has in fact been neglected as compared to the issues of growth and expansion. India has been no exception to this worldwide phenomenon; rather, the trends in environmental deterioration in India, because of the substantial increase in its population, have been far more prominent as compared to other developing economies. Urban development in India is presently going through a very dynamic stage, the percentage of population in urban centres itself having increased from 14 per cent in the 1940s to about 33 per cent in 2000 2 . The unprecedented challenge of such an urban shift has resulted in Indian cities degenerating into slums and squatters camps. The rapid expansion of cities has brought with it acute problems of environment resulting in the degradation of quality of life. In order to comprehend the above issues and problems of urbanization and environment, the National Development Plans have, from time to time, developed certain techniques and solutions in the process of urban and environmental planning policy. The key factor is that, urbanization will continue in India in the foreseeable future and going to place heavier demand on the environment. It is, therefore, important to understand the process of
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URBANIZATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN
3.1 Introduction:
Today, half of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050, 70 percent
of the population will be urban. India has been witnessing massive urbanization. Over
the six decades since independence, India’s population grew three-fold from 350
million in 1947 to 1027 million in the year in 2001. During the same period, the urban
population grew almost 4.6 fold as fast – from 62.4 million to 286 million (Census
2001). Thus, the Independent India has been urbanising very fast. The process of
urbanization has been closely linked with pattern of economic development in the
country. Although the process of urbanization in India could not be explained fully by
the process of economic development, it is positively linked with the latter.1
Thus, the rapid increase in urbanization and economic development has led to
severe environmental degradation that undermines the environmental resource base
upon which sustainable development depends. The economics of environmental
pollution, depletion and degradation of resources has in fact been neglected as
compared to the issues of growth and expansion. India has been no exception to this
worldwide phenomenon; rather, the trends in environmental deterioration in India,
because of the substantial increase in its population, have been far more prominent as
compared to other developing economies.
Urban development in India is presently going through a very dynamic stage,
the percentage of population in urban centres itself having increased from 14 per cent
in the 1940s to about 33 per cent in 20002. The unprecedented challenge of such an
urban shift has resulted in Indian cities degenerating into slums and squatters camps.
The rapid expansion of cities has brought with it acute problems of environment
resulting in the degradation of quality of life. In order to comprehend the above
issues and problems of urbanization and environment, the National Development
Plans have, from time to time, developed certain techniques and solutions in the
process of urban and environmental planning policy. The key factor is that,
urbanization will continue in India in the foreseeable future and going to place heavier
demand on the environment. It is, therefore, important to understand the process of
49
urbanization in different regions and design appropriate policies of urban
development. Thus, the five year plans prepared by the Planning Commission of India
reflect the aspirations and long-term plans of the central government on all aspects of
economy, environment and development. These plans can be helpful in analysing the
policy regarding various sectors.
It is in this milieu of the association between urbanization and environmental
degradation, the present chapter is devoted to the same issue. The entire chapter is
divided into four segments. Second part discusses India’s Five Year Plans at a Glance
and urban planning and policies in India under different Five Year plans at length.
The third part is entirely devoted to environmental awareness programmes, policies
and people’s participation. In this segment further the environmental policies and
environmental concerns in India’s planning under different Five Year Plans are being
discussed. The fourth and the last portion draw attention to the lack of integration
between environmental policies and economic planning.
3.2 Urban Planning and Policies in India, Five Year Plans and
Programmes for the Urban Poor
India began the process of planned economic development with the start of the
First Five Year Plan on April 1, 1951. In a broad sense, the basic objectives of
planning in India can be grouped under four heads: (a) growth, (b) modernisation, (c)
self-reliance and (d) social justice. In one form or another, these objectives, although
with varying emphasis, reflect the views of all sections of the population and
represent a national consensus on the aims of planning.
A. India’s Five Year Plans at a Glance:
First Five Year Plan (1951-52 to 1955-56), India faced three formidable
problems, viz. severe food shortage, mounting inflation and the influx of refugees in
the wake of partition of the country in 1947. The First Five Year Plan had to address
these problems on an urgent basis.
The Second Five Year Plan (1956-57 to 1960-61), was formulated and
implemented in an atmosphere of economic stability. Agricultural targets fixed in the
First Plan had been achieved and inflation had registered a fall. The plan followed the
Mahalanobis model, an economic development model developed by the Indian
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statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in 1953. The time was ripe to shift focus
from agriculture to industry to give a big boost to the economy on modern lines.
Hence, the Second Plan concentrated on the development of heavy and basic
industries to lay the foundation for future industrialization of the Indian economy. It is
also noteworthy that in 1956, Government announced its Industrial Policy (called by
some as the economic constitution of India) which accepted the establishment of a
socialistic pattern of society as the goal of economic policy. The industrial
development programme adopted was given by P.C. Mahalanobis. The model was
created as an analytical framework for India’s Second Five Year Plan in 1955 under
the instructions of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, as India felt there was a need to
introduce a formal plan model after the successful completion of First Five Year Plan
(1951-1956). The First Five Year Plan stressed investment for capital accumulation in
the spirit of the one-sector Harrod–Domar model. It argued that production required
capital and that capital can be accumulated through investment; the faster one
accumulates, the higher the growth rate will be. The most fundamental criticisms
came from Mahalanobis, who himself was working with a variant of it in 1951 and
1952. The criticisms were mostly around the model’s inability to cope with the real
constraints of the economy; it’s ignoring of the fundamental problems of planning
over time; and the lack of connection between the model and the actual selection of
projects for governmental expenditure. Subsequently; Mahalanobis introduced his
celebrated two-sector model, which he later expanded into a four-sector version.
Third Five year Plan (1961-62 to 1965-66), accordingly, gave top priority to
agriculture but it also laid adequate emphasis on the development of basic industries
which were vital for rapid development of the economy. In fact, the Third Plan set as
its goal in the establishment of self-reliant and self-generating economy.
Planned development efforts were disrupted when the country came under
severe shocks such as hostilities with Pakistan (1965), droughts for two successive
years (1965-66 and 1966-67), devaluation of the rupee (1966) and inflationary
pressure. On account of these adverse circumstances, the draft outline of the Fourth
Plan prepared had to be abandoned. Instead, three Annual Plans (1966-67, 1967-68
and 1968-69) were prepared and implemented.
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The planning process was resumed when the Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-
70 to 1973-74) became operational on April 1, 1969. It set before itself two main
objectives: (a) growth with stability and (b) progressive achievement of self-reliance.
The Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-75 to 1978-79) was executed when the
country was undergoing severe economic strains such as run-away inflation caused by
unprecedented increase in international oil prices in the wake of 1973 Gulf Crisis and
the failure of the Government to take over the wholesale trade in wheat. The Plan
could not complete its five years because it was terminated at the end of the fourth
year (i.e. March 31, 1978) by the new Janata Party Government at the Centre.
The political turmoil of the late 1970s witnessed two Sixth Plans. The Sixth
Plan (1978-79 to 1982-83), of the Janata Party Government which was abandoned
with the change of Government at the Centre in 1980. The new Government led by
Mrs. Indira Gandhi introduced its own Sixth five year Plan (1980-81 to 1984-85)
which successfully ran its full course. It focused on direct attack on poverty.3
The Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-86 to 1989-90) sought to emphasise
policies and programmes to increase food grains production, employment
opportunities and productivity.
Eighth Five Year Plan which was to begin on April 1, 1990 covering the
period 1990-91 to 1994-95 could not be finalised on time and hence there was a plan
gap of two years. It took off on April 1, 1992 covering the period 1992-93 to 1996-97.
This was followed by the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-98 to 2001-2002) with the
main aim of attaining objectives like speedy industrialization, human development,
full-scale employment, poverty reduction, and self-reliance on domestic resources.4
The Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-03 to 2006-07) envisaged redefining the
role of Government in the context of the emergence of a strong and vibrant private
sector, need for provision of infrastructure and the need for imparting greater
flexibility in fiscal and monetary policies. In November 2006, the Government
released the Approach paper to the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-08 to 2011-
12). The Plan became operative from April 1, 2007. “The broad vision of this Plan
includes several inter-related components: rapid growth that reduces poverty and
creates employment opportunities, access to essential services in health and education
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especially for the poor, equality of opportunity, environmental sustainability,
recognition of women’s agency and good governance”.5
Table 3.1: Growth Rate Performance in the Various Plans
(In % per annum)
Plan period Target Realisation
First Plan (1951-1956) 2.1 3.5
Second Plan (1956-1961) 4.5 4.2
Third Plan (1961-66) 5.6 2.8
Fourth Plan (1969-74) 5.7 3.2
Fifth Plan (1974-79) 4.4 4.7
Sixth Plan (1980-85) 5.2 5.5
Seventh Plan (1985-90) 5.0 5.6
Eighth Plan (1992-97) 5.6 6.5
Ninth Plan (1997-2002) 6.5 5.5
Tenth Plan (2002-07) 8.0 7.8
Source: Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007-2012, Planning Commission, GOI, (Volume –I).
Table 3.2: Population of India by Residence (1951-2001)
Sources: Various census Report
Table 3.1 shows the growth performance during various five year plans and
Table 3.2 reveals that the number of total population has increased from 361 million
Census Year
Total Population
Average Annual
Compound Growth
Rate
Urban Population
Average Annual
compound Growth
Rate
Rural Population
Average Annual
Compound Growth
Rate
1951 361088090 - 62443709 - 298644381 -
1961 439234771 1.97 78936603 2.4 360298168 1.9
1971 598159652 3.1 109113977 3.1 489045675 3.1
1981 683329097 1.3 159462547 3.9 523866550 0.69
1991 844324222 2.1 217177625 3.1 627146597 1.8
2001 1027015247 1.97 285354954 2.8 741660293 1.7
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in 1951 to 1027 million in 2001. During the same period, the number of population
residing in urban and rural areas has increased from 62.4 million to 285 million in
urban areas and from 298.6 million to 742 million in rural areas. This shows that
urban population has increased 4.6 times whereas rural population has increased 2.5
times during the period 1951 to 2001. The table clearly shows that the average annual
compound growth rate of urban population was always higher in all the census years.
It was 5.65 times during the period 1971-1981. This is clearly a reflection of the pace
at which urbanization is taking place in India. The average annual compound growth
rate of urban population was 2.4 in 1961.The decades 1971, 1981 and 1991 showed a
significant improvement in the growth which has thereafter steadily dropped to 2.8 in
2001. The rural growth has been fluctuating since 1961. The decline in rural
population growth was marginal during 1991 and 2001.
B. Urban Policy during the Five Year Plan Periods for the Urban Poor:
The urban planning techniques and solutions that developed during the course
of Plans suggested quite a few measures to tackle the problems of urbanization and
urban growth. In the First Five Year Plan (1951-56), the government concentrated
on institution-building, on construction of homes for government employees and for
weaker sections of society. Interestingly, a good part of the Plan outlay was spent on
rehabilitation of the refugees from Pakistan and on building the new city of
Chandigarh. An Industrial Housing Scheme was also initiated. Chandigarh, with its
obvious modernist edge, in some perverted way became the model for the low-cost
yellow buildings that were so ubiquitous during the two decades after Indian
independence and continue to remain so today. In the same plan period the National
Buildings Organisation and the School of Planning and Architecture were set up in
order to improve the quality and efficiency of built environment building, research
and develop housing technologies and create a cadre of trained town planners.
Furthermore, the central government also set up the Town and Country Planning
Organisation to provide guidance and assistance to central and state governments on
urban problems and also to prepare the Delhi Master Plan which was conceived as the
model plan which was subsequently to provide a framework for master plans to be
prepared for other cities.
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The other two issues in the 1st Plan were industrial and employer housing and
slums. The Plan noted that “construction of houses by employers in post-war years
has fallen short of expectations” (Dwivedi 2007). More importantly, it notes that “the
employers have generally taken the stand that not they but the state has the
responsibility for providing houses for the working class”. This is in stark contrast to
experiments like TISCO in Jamshedpur where the company took upon itself the
responsibility of providing housing and other amenities to its workforce and their
families. Thus we see that after Independence the private capital increasingly started
washing its hands off the issues of reproduction of its workforce.6
The Second Five Year Plan (1956-1961), gave priority to set up the
industrial towns as the potential centers of urbanization. The preparation of Master
Plans of 21 cities was taken up for co-ordinated urban development. The Town and
Country Planning Act were formulated to revamp the civic administration. The
concept of slum clearance has been revised to achieve slum improvement as slum
clearance is not enough unless the slums are re-built and resettle the affected people. 7
The Third Five Year Plan (1961-1966) laid emphasis on town planning for
which the responsibility was shifted from Centre to the States. A Model Town
Planning Act was prepared in 1957 by the Town and Country Planning Organisation,
Delhi and this led to the enactment of laws in other states. The Third Five Year Plan
extends financial support for the preparation of master plans for the development of
cities and towns in the states. As a result of such efforts, nearly 400 master plans were
prepared. Moreover, the Third Plan also initiated Urban-Community Development
Scheme in selected cities as an experimental scheme to solve social and human
problems associated with urban slums.8
It was only in the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1969-74) that the policies started
reflecting growth and concentration of population in cities and the need for a balanced
development. Another important aspect was the vision to develop smaller towns with
spatial economic activities. These economic activities were aimed at generation of
income for the residents of the small towns. Coupled with this, the plan also brought
out a Scheme for Environmental improvement of Urban slums , to provide minimum
services like water supply , sanitation and street pavements in 11 cities, which were
later extended to nine additional locations. The Housing and Urban Development
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Corporation was established to fund the remunerative housing and urban
developmental programmes, aimed at turnovers.9
The Fifth five Year Plan (1974-79) was mainly concerned with introducing
measures to control land prices in cities; providing a framework for the development
of small and medium towns; augmenting basic services in cities and towns;
addressing the problems of metropolitan cities with a regional perspective and assist
development projects having national significance in metropolitan cities. The
priorities expressed in the Plan were based partly on the National Urbanization Policy
Resolution of the Town and Country Planning Organisation. In order to evolve a
framework for the development of small and medium towns the central government
constituted a Task Force on Planning and Development of Small and Medium Towns
in 1975. The main objectives of the Task Force, headed by Prof. Bijit Ghose, were to
“examine laws relating to local administration and urban development, and to suggest
suitable modifications of these laws, keeping in view the need to assist in the planned
growth of small and medium towns, and to formulate guidelines and regulations in the
matters such as zoning, setbacks, building control and such other relevant matters”10.
The report of the Task Force was published in 1977 and recommendations included
giving priority to the development of existing towns and cities within a population
range of 50,000-3,00,000. The framework for the selection and consequent
development of small and medium towns consisted of the following
recommendations:11
(a) formulation of a national urban policy; (b) urban land policy to ensure
proper use of land (c) development of small and medium towns, cities and
metropolises with organic linkages to their immediate areas; (d) identification of
growth points in the region that may be delineated; (e) evolution of location policies
in the context of regional development; (f) provision of inviolable greenbelts around
settlements of certain sizes; (g) working out of rational and feasible norms and
standards of urban development; and (h) creation of appropriate statutory local
government agencies at various levels.
The Plan also emphasised the need for infrastructural development of cities
with population over 300,000. To achieve this goal a scheme called Integrated Urban
Development Programme (IUDP) was launched. Also, the Sites and Services Scheme
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for making serviced land available to the poor was launched in this Plan period. In
order to control increase land prices in cities, the Plan suggested several measures,
including, “differential taxes on land based on its use, higher taxes on vacant lands to
discourage speculation, conversion tax on change of land use and enhanced stamp
duty on transfer of lands” 12. One of the most important steps that were taken to check
land prices and speculation in land during the fifth plan period was the promulgation
of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act (ULCRA), 1976. The ULCRA aimed
at preventing concentration of urban land in the hands of a few thereby checking
speculation in and profiteering from land. It enabled the socialisation of urban land to
ensure equitable distribution amongst various social classes and orderly development
of urban built environment.
The focus of the Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85) was largely on the
development of small and medium towns and provision of basic services in urban
slums. Though the Plan underlined the need to improve environmental conditions in
slums through improvement in drainage, sewerage and sanitation the urban
component of the 6th Plan is remembered primarily for the introduction of a centrally
sponsored scheme called the Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns
(IDSMT) with the objective of promoting growth in towns with less than 100,000
population through provision of infrastructure and basic services. The components
eligible for central assistance under the IDSMT included land acquisition and
services, construction of new markets, provision of industrial estates, provision of
other services and processing facilities for the benefit of agricultural and rural
development in the hinterland and low cost sanitation (which was added to this list
later). The state components included slum improvement, small scale employment
generation, low-cost water supply schemes, drainage and sanitation, sewerage,
preventive medical facilities, parks and playgrounds. To begin with the scheme
included 231 towns in various states and union territories, selected on the basis of the
ratio of urban population in the state to the total urban population in the country Later
on a few additional towns were added to this list.13
The Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-1990) stressed the need to entrust the
major responsibility of housing construction to the private sector. The National
Housing Bank was set up to expand the base of housing finance. The NBO was
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reconstituted and a new organisation called Building Material Technology Promotion
Council (BMTPC) was set up to promote the commercial production of innovative
building materials. A network of Building Centres was also set up during this Plan
period. The Seventh Plan explicitly recognised the problems of the urban poor and for
the first time an Urban Poverty Alleviation Scheme known as Urban Basic Services
for the Poor (UBSP) was launched. Since then, much of the tendency has been to
allow for the industries around building materials, mainly cement and steel, to
determine the allocation of resources for building environments. This was also the
period when private builders got an enormous boost to enter the mass housing market
and make materials even more expensive for the poor. The National Housing Policy
was announced in 1988. In this, the role of the government was reflected as ‘a
provider for the poorest and vulnerable sections and as a facilitator for other income
groups and private sector by the removal of constraints and the increased supply of
land and services’.14
In the Seventh Plan, emphasis is placed on the major programmes:
1. The Environmental Improvement of Slums (EIS) programme has to be continued
with greater vigour and steps should be taken to provide security of tenure to the
slum dwellers so that they may develop a stake in maintaining and improving their
habitat. Of the total urban population, nearly a fifth is estimated to constitute the
slum population. The Sixth Plan had estimated that in 1985 the magnitude of such
population needing attention would be about 33.1 million. Of this, up to March
1985, about 15.6 million slum dwellers would have been benefited, leaving a
balance of 17.5 million people yet to be provided relief.
2. In order to ensure a balanced distribution of urban population and to slow down
the growth of metropolises, a centrally sponsored scheme of Integrated
Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT) was introduced during the
Sixth Plan to provide infrastructure and other facilities in these towns. The Sixth
Plan made a provision of Rs. 96 crore in the Central sector with a matching
provision in the States sector for the development of about 200 towns. During the
plan period, Central release amounted to about Rs. 61 crore in respect of 235
towns.
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3. The Plan include a provision of Rs. 930 crore in States sector for provision of
infrastructure facilities like roads, pavements, minor civic works. This provision
also includes the States’ contribution against the centrally sponsored scheme of
IDSMT. A provision of Rs. 317.58 crore is included for the development projects
being undertaken in the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Area (CMDA) as a
part of the externally aided programmes.
4. An outlay of Rs. 35 crore has been included in the Plan of the Ministry of Works
and Housing for the development of the National Capital Region (NCR) around
Delhi. This will be in addition to the provision included in the plans of other
Central Ministries like Railways, Shipping and Transport, etc.
5. In India, the use of development banks to finance development oriented sectors in
the national economy has proved to be quite successful. It is proposed to set up an
Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation to deal with the emerging
urban problem that the country is and will be facing. The Plan provide Rs. 35
crore in the Urban Development Sector and Rs. 20 crore in the Water supply and
sanitation sector, as initial capital for the Corporation which would augment its
resources by raising funds from institutional sources.15
Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-1997) for the first time explicitly recognised
the role and importance of the urban sector for the national economy. While the
growth rate of employment in the urban areas averaged around 3.8 percent per annum,
it dropped to about 1.6 percent in the rural areas. Therefore, the urban areas have to be
enabled to absorb larger increments to the labour force. The Plan identified the key
issues in the emerging urban scenario, via: the widening gap between demand and
supply of infrastructural services, which hits the poor, whose access to the basic
services like drinking water, sanitation, education and basic healthcare is shrinking;
the unabated growth of the urban population, aggravating the accumulated backlog of
housing shortages and resulting in the proliferation of slums and squatter settlements
and decay of city environments. Once again, we are back to square one: the need to
attack poverty in urban areas with the same urgency that motivated anti-poverty
rhetoric in the early years of India's modern growth, the need to provide spaces for the
poor to enter into economic transactions without fear of harassment from organised
markets and local state machinery, the need to make building materials cheap and
subsidise land for the poor, create inexpensive medical and health facilities and give
59
priority to primary health. All familiar inputs, which would have qualitatively
changed the way the economy would have been had similar investments been made in
the rural sector itself, decades ago.16
At the beginning of the 8th Plan period, in 1992, the 74th Constitutional
Amendment Act was promulgated. It was a landmark Act which sought to
decentralize decision making in cities and towns through creation of elected urban
local bodies (ULBs). The functions and responsibilities to the local bodies have been
laid down in the Twelfth Schedule of the Amendment Act. The Legislature has to
provide legal provisions authorizing the ULBs to levy collect and appropriate taxes
and duties to augment revenue / resources so that the ULBs need not depend solely on
the government grants. The State Finance Commissions shall review the principles of
determining taxes, duties and grant-in-aid to the Municipalities but even after a
decade there has hardly been any improvement of the ULB’s financial capacity.
The Mega City Scheme a centrally sponsored scheme launched in five cities,
namely, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore during the 8th Plan
had the express purpose of preparing municipalities to use institutional finance and
eventually market instruments like municipal bonds for capital investment
requirements. One of the highlights of the 8th Plan period was the publication of the
India infrastructure report, In October 1994, the Ministry of Finance, GOI, set up an
Expert Group on Commercialization of Infrastructure Projects under the leadership of
Rakesh Mohan. The Group submitted its report titled The India Infrastructure Report:
Policy Imperatives for Growth and Welfare (IIR) in June 1996 which is widely
considered a landmark document in the push towards privatization and/or
commercialization of infrastructure creation and management, service provision and
regulatory and governance systems. A clear imprint of the IIR can be seen in various
policy and legislative measures that central and state governments have adopted in
infrastructure and urban sectors.
The Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), received the New Economic
Environment of liberation and structural reforms in the urban sector. To tackle the
problem of housing, which was felt much more acutely, public and private
participation was encouraged also allowing Multi National Companies (MNCs) in this
plan period. The planning commission expected 50,000 crore for the facilities of
60
drinking water supply and sanitation in urban areas. Union Government design and
took important steps for the development of the urban sector. Urban Development
Planning again came in to limelight due to the era of economic liberalisation. Private
sector is also playing a key role in developing infrastructure in the urban areas. The
Union Government also lift the ban on foreign investment in the urban sector
especially in the creation of infrastructure. 17
In this perspective, the major objectives of the Ninth Plan are the following:
1. Development of urban areas as economically efficient, socially equitable and
environmentally sustainable entities.
2. Accelerated development of housing, particularly for the low income groups
and other disadvantaged groups.
3. Development and upgradation of urban infrastructure services to meet the
needs of growing population.
4. Alleviation of urban poverty and unemployment.
5. Promoting accessibility and affordability of the poor to housing and basic
services.
6. Promoting efficient and affordable mass urban transportation systems in
metropolitan cities.
7. Improvement of urban environment.
8. Promoting private sector participation in the provision of public infrastructure
and of the community and NGOs in the urban planning and management of
specific component of urban services.
9. Democratic decentralisation and strengthening of municipal governance.
Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007): The Plan identifies urbanization as “a key
determinant of the economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, boosted by economic
liberalisation”. The 10th Plan (2002-07) was prepared in the backdrop of the Union
Budget of 2002-03 which had announced radical measures to push cities into carrying
out comprehensive urban reforms. The overriding thrust of the 10th Plan was to
promote overhauling of the legislative, governance and administrative structure of
cities through a set of market-friendly urban reforms and promotion of Public Private
Participations in urban infrastructure and services. The 10th Plan said it in no
uncertain terms that urban infrastructure could not be funded by budgetary support
alone. A lot of emphasis was thus placed on making urban local bodies financially
61
strong so that they have to rely less and less on state transfers. To enable ULBs to
raise their own resources the Plan advocated reform in property tax, levying of user